AROUND 5,700 standard fines will need to be issued just to cover the cost of the fleet of new wardens hitting the streets on May 14.

The batch of 20 civil enforcement officers (CEOs) will be funded from the money raised from the fixed penalty tickets issued.

With an annual starting salary of £14,199 - before taking account of employer’s national insurance cost and any other benefits - the council faces a whopping £283,980 bill.

This equates to 5,680 tickets - 110 per week - of £50 fines or 4,057 - 79 per week - for penalties at £70.

And if the driver pays the penalty ticket within 14 days to take advantage of the discount, the CEOs will need to book even more motorists to cover their costs.

Although the council’s parking enforcement manager James Howard said there are no bonuses or targets for the officers, he said it was highly likely that the money raised would cover enforcement costs.

He added: "Any surplus will go back into improving parking and similar facilities within the borough."

Motorists will also need to get smart in parking properly as the new batch of wardens will be armed with NVQs and City and Guilds certificates in parking enforcement to set them on the right path to clamping down on clumsy parkers.

When the council take over enforcing parking, loading and waiting restrictions from the police, there will be 10 of the borough’s CEOs based in Wilmslow.

But their actual location will be kept flexible so staff can be sent to the areas of most need, which will be assessed on an ongoing basis.

Each officer has undergone a selection process including an aptitude test and interview and assessment of their people skills and ability.

Before being allowed to hit the streets, the officers will have had one weeks intensive training and taken a City and Guilds Level 2 qualification.

And with further parking qualifications in the pipeline, councillors are hot on the heels of the wardens in making sure that common sense prevails before they slap on a ticket.

He said: "I welcome parking decriminalisation but I am concerned that shoppers will leave the town if traffic wardens are over-zealous and people are getting penalties for minor offences. I don’t want the council to get the reputation of some other councils which are too strict on parking.I just hope that there will be an element of common sense instilled into the civil enforcement officers (CEOs) in their training and that they can exercise some discretion in their work. We were assured that this would be the case."

Mr Howard assured councillors that guidelines are in place for CEOs to ensure consistency and fairness.

He said there would be little discretion in the first instance but it could come into play at the appeals stage. He added: "It is not my aim to drive people out of town."